Welcome back to… record scratch… Welcome to our first edition of Olympic hockey predictions here at Last Word On Hockey, where we will be covering the men’s ice hockey tournament at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics each day throughout the preliminary round and beyond.

If Sweden and Finland aren't at the top of Group B at the conclusion of the preliminary round, then the Olympics will have turned upside down.

A pivotal Group A matchup is set for Sunday night in Milan, as Czechia prepares to take on Finland in women’s ice hockey action at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games Men's Hockey Event The main event of the Olympic Winter Games is slotted to feature a competition among 12 participating teams in the 2026 Winter Olympics. These teams participating in the Winter Olympics shall be competing with other participants in different groups or categories.

When Kaapo Kakko suffered his second injury of the NHL season in mid-November, the Finn had genuine concern it would interfere with his Olympic dreams.

Lehtonen is not the only player on Team Finland with Olympic experience. Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen was playing for HIFK in Liiga, Finland's top hockey league, and Seattle Kraken forward Eeli Tolvanen with Jokerit of the Kontinental Hockey League, when they were Lehtonen's teammates at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.

One period earlier, Knight scored her 14th career Olympic goal, tying the American record held by Natalie Darwitz and Katie King. Knight did it in style too, taking a feed from teammate Laila Edwards and beating Finnish goalie Sanni Ahola short-side top corner.

The 2026 Winter Olympics, featuring 16 sports with 116 medal events, will take place from Feb. 4 to Feb. 22 in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Preliminary events began Feb. 4 and the closing ceremony will be Feb.

The Finland women's hockey team had its opening game of the Winter Olympics against Canada on Thursday postponed due to a stomach virus depleting the roster. The game was rescheduled for Feb. 12. https://t.co/rp2a3dnYH3 The virus began affecting the Finland squad on Tuesday night.

Team USA improves to 2-0 and extends Olympic winning streak against Finland with a 5-0 victory. Megan Keller recorded a goal and two assists the at Milan Cortina Games.

Finland women’s hockey team’s preliminary round-opening game against Canada on Thursday has been postponed due to a stomach virus depleting Finland’s roster.